Bottling-machine.



G. A. & M. HENDRICKSON.

BOTTLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man IAN-30. 1915.

1,179,372. Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

my. Z 6-6 G. A. & M. HENDRICKSON. BOTTLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-30,19l5;

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wz nesaea: I I 7/556, 1% 46,. 3mm I GUSTAF ALFRED HENDRICKSON ANI)MARTIN ITENDRICKSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

/B0TTLING-1VLACHVINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed January 30, 1915. Serial 110. 5,216.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GUSTAF ALFRED HENDRICKSON and MARTIN HENDRICKSON,citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Chicago,county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Bottling- Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

The main objects of this invention are. to

' provide an improved form of automatic bottling machine, moreparticularly for milk; to provide improved forms of mechanism therefor,and to coorganize the same as a whole so as to produce a. compact andeflicient machine of few parts and simple construction, adapted foraccurate and rapid work and facility of operation, which shall requireonly few and slight movements of the bottles in the machine, which shallnot require more than one attendant and which shall be easily accessiblein all its parts for thorough care and cleaning as required especiallyin the milk business.

Claims covering the capping means and also case feeding means arecontained in our copending application Serial No. -82,852, filed March8, 1916.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is, shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which a Figure 1 is a vertical section of themachine approximately on the line AA of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a fragmentarytop plan view of the machine. Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentarycross-section of the machine on the line BB of Fig. 2, showingparticularly the principal features of the capper feed mechanism. Fig. 4is an enlarged fragmentary section of the machine taken axially throughone of the bottle filling tubes on the line CC of Fig. 2, the fillerbeing in its normal raised position. Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentaryaxial section on the line C--C of Fig. 2, showing the lower end of oneof the supply tubes in its bottlefilli-ng position. Fig. 6 is anenlarged fragmentary axial section on the line C of Fig. 2, showing oneof the filler tubes in its raised position and the corresponding capperin its lowered position. Fig. 7 is a side view of the cam which raisesand lowers the bottle supporting platform. Fig. 8 is a plan of the framewhich carries the combmed cap-guides and centering bells. Fig. 9 is a.

plan of the stationary frame plate at the foot of the cap magazines.Fig. 10 is a plan of one of the four cap feeders. Fig. 11 is a sectionon the line DD of Fig. 2 showing a detail of the bulkhead. Fig. 12 is anaxial sectlon on the line EE of Fig. 2 at the base of a cap magazine.

In the construction shown, the machine compris stationary frame 1, onwhich there is mounted a milk supply tank 2, a bulkhead 3 connected withsaid tank, a platform 4: for the bottles 5, filling means 6communicating with said bulkhead, cap magazmes 7, capping meansincluding oscillatory guides 8 and plungers 9, means 15 for feeding caps16 one at a time from each magazine to its respective guide 8, andcorrelated mechanisms for operating the several said membersautomatically.

The frame 1 may be of any suitable construction adapted for supportingthe several parts and mechanisms above mentioned and hereinafter morefully described. Said frame comprises mainly a plurality of uprights 18and cross-members. 20 rigidly ointed together.

The tank or reservoir 2 is mounted at the top of an upwardly projectingpart of the frame at one side of and above therest of the machine, andcomprises sides 21 and abottom 22 having an outlet 23 communicating withthe discharge tube 24 which leads to the distributing chamber orbulkhead 3 disposed at one side of said tank.

The distributing bulkhead 3 for the fillers 6 is relatively shallow andis disposed horizontally over the bottling apparatus. It

,comprises'a bottom 25, sides 26, and a detachable cover 27, securednormally in place,

the joint for said cover having a gasket 28. Said bulkhead hasperforations in its base for the discharge of liquid as willbe morefully described. Apertures are provided extending entirely through saidbulkhead, which apertures have walls 30, the upper edges of which areprovided with gaskets .31, to fit against the cover 27, said aperturesbeing provided to accommodate the cap magazines 7 hereinafter described.Said cover 27 .is provided also with a -plurality of small perforationsin which are fixed small tubes 33 corresponding in number and locationwith the filling tubes.- Said tubes 33 communicate with the bulkhead andproject upward to'a height substantially level 11L with the top of theliquid reservoir, the

purpose of said tubes being hereinafter more fully explained.

The platform 4 is carried by supporting means 35, by which it may beraised and lowered automatically as required. The empty bottles 5 arefirst placed in open boxes or cases 36 having perforated or mesh bottoms37, each box containing the number of bottles'for which the particularmachine is adapted, which in this instance is twelve. Means are providedfor sliding said boxes into'and out of the machine over said platform,as on rollers 38 carried by brackets 39 on the frame of the machine, asshown in Fig. 1. When the platform 4 is raised, it bears on the boxbottom and supports the bottles firmly duringthe filling and cap pingprocess, the platform bearing upward directly on the bottom 37 withoutlifting the sides of the box.

The filling means 6 comprises a plural-- ity of tubes projectingdownwardly from said bulkhead, one for each bottle, the number in thisinstance being twelve. Each of said tubes is telescopic in character,the upper part or section 40 being attached tightly to the bottom at acorresponding perforation in the under side of the bulkhead with whichit communicates, and the lower part 42 being reciprocatable downwardlyand upwardly to and from its bottle filling position respectively.

Combined centering and closure means for the bottles are associatedtelescopically with the filling tubes, each comprising an annularmember44 surrounding the lower end of the filling tube, and having a bellshaped centering and cushion member 45, preferably in the form of a softrubbergasket adapted to fit tightly over the mouth of the bottle so asto center the latter and prevent leakage of milk during the fillingoperation. Valve means hereinafter described are used for lifting saidmember 44 with the tube 42 when the filling operation is completed andalso yieldable means 47 for forcing said closure member into tightcontact with the bottle when the tube 42 is lowered. The capping plunger9, hereinafter described, is disposed slidably between a valve cylinder49 and closure member 44 in liquid tight re lation. The lifting meansfor said closure member 44 comprises the valve cylinder 49 fittingslidably over said tube 42 and within said plunger 9, which cylinder isseated normally at its lower end on an upwardly facing annular shoulderor seat 50 on the tip of said tube, and rods 51 connecting said member44 with the upper end of said cylinder 49, which is enlarged at 52 andprovided with lugs 53 for attaching said rods. The coiled spring 47surrounds the upper part of tube 42 and seats at its lower end againstthe shoulder 54 of cylinder 49 and Valve mechanism for each filling tubeis I provided as follows: The lower end of each tube 42 is closed at thebottom 55, but has lateral apertures 56 closed normally by the lowerpart of said cylinder 49. When the tube 42 enters the bottle thewithholding of cylinder 49 by the cap closure member 44 serves to openthe valve ports 56, which, however, are closed automatically by thesubsequent rising of tube 42 within the cylinder 49 which seats normallyon the shoulder 50.

In order that the air in the bottle may pass out freely when the liquidenters, there is provided in the filling tube 42 a long narrow air tube58, having its lower end fitted tightly to the tube bottom 55 inregistry with a perforation therein, and having its upper end disposedinone of the tubes 33 projecting at all times above the upper surfacelevel of the liquid in the tank 2. A float valve 59 is held in the lowerpart of tube 58 which is enlarged and has a downwardly' facing valveseat 58. This valve prevents liquid from rising in the air vent 58 whenthe bottle is full.

Each of the cap magazines 7 comprises a cylindrical base member 60mounted rigidly by means of the plate 61 and an interchangeablecylindrical member 62 fitting upon nd ward by gravity, subject toremoval suc-' cessively by certain automatic feed mechanism hereinafterdescribed.

Each of the guide means 8 comprises a vertically disposed cylindricalmember 65 associated with which at its lower end in vertically slidablerelation is'an outwardlyflanged and downwardly facing bell-shaped member66 adapted to fit over and center the top of the bottle to be cappedwhen such bottle is thrust upward thereunder. In order to compensate forlimited variation in the height of the bottles. said guide member isprovided with yielding means 67 arranged to urge the centering bell 66downwardly, but permitting the same to rise somewhat according to theheight of the bottle, a coiled spring disposed about said -members and66 are swung over the bottle and the latter raised, they both fitagainst the bottle top and are each lifted more or less according to theshape and height of the bottle, and may rise through the frameplateperforation 61 through which the feeder tube 42 and capper 9project when each is operated. Each cylinder 65 is somewhat smaller thanthe caps 16, so that the latter are prevented from dropping throughprematurely. The upper end of cylinder 65 is enlarged at 65 so as toreceive and hold a cap loosely until pushed down by plunger 9.

Means are provided for swinging said guide members each from its normalposition adjacent tobut eccentric with respect to its cap-magazinerespectively to its discharge position over the bottle to be capped andin registry with the perforation 64 in plate 61 and back again. Saidcarrying means in this instance comprises a frame 69 of rectangularshape formed with twelve apertures in which the said guide members aremounted, and each cylinder 65 has a top flange 70 seated on said frame.The frame 69 is oscillatably mounted on a set of four arms 72 swingingon fixed pivots 73. Two of said members 72 are provided with actuatingarms 74 disposed atan angle with respect to the frame supporting armsand forming therewith substantially a pair of bell crank levers. Thefree ends ofsaid actuating arms are connected to a rod 75 which isactuated and controlled, as 1hereinafter described, to rock saidarms-.through a suitable angle depending upon the precise relativeposition of the pivots 73, cap feeders 15 and plungers 9. (See Fig. 2).

The cap feeding means 15 for each maga- Zinc is reciprocating in itsaction, and in this instance comprises a thin plate of somewhat lessthickness than the caps,-said plate being disposed cross-wise of theframe 1 and extending beneath a row of three magazines. Each plate hasperforations 77 spaced apart according to the spacing of said magazines,each of the apertures being substantially equal to the inner diameter ofthe magazine 7, so as to readily receive the caps successively. Meansare provided for sliding each. plate forward sufliciently to bring eachof its apertures into registry with the corresponding guides 8 in theirretracted or normal position. The caps carried in said apertures dropthrough the perforations 78 in the frame plate 61, and into the upperends 65' of the guide cylinders 65. The said plates 15 are then restoredautomatically to their normal position and each perforation receivesanother cap ready to repeat the operation. The actuating means for thefeed plates 15 drives them all simultaneously, which means ishereinafterdescribed more fully. The-movement is-small, being not more than halfthe diameter of a cap. Each of the cap affixing plungers 9 iscylindrical and fits closely within the closure ring 44 and about thevalve cylinder 49 in telescopic relationthereto. Said plungers 9 are allactuated .and controlled by a vertically movable horizontal frame ortable 80 to which they are secured in yielding relation. Each plungerfits slidably in a vertical perforation in said frame, and is preventedfrom complete withdrawal downward therefrom by means of a shoulder onits upper end, 'a threaded flange or ring 81 being used in thisinstance. Said plunger is urged downward by yielding means, as

. table 86 which is movable vertically subject to automatic control. Themovable member 42 of each filling tube is secured rigidly to said table,and may be screwed into a threaded perforation therein, as shown in Fig.1.

Means for lowering and raising the filler tube frame 86 compriseautomatically operated mechanism including in this instance a pairoflike cam members 88 fixed in spaced relation on the horizontal powershaft 89, said members each being preferably in the'form of a disk witha cam slot 91 in one of its radially disposed faces. Cooperating witheachof said disks is a vertically disposed rod 92 with a cam-engagingshoulder or pivot 93 on its lower end and having its upper end connectedto said table 86, by which means a vertical recipro-- driving the shaft89 may be transmitted thereto by any suitable means, such as a gear 136and worm 137 mounted on driving shaft 138.

Oscillating mechanism is provided for the frame 69 which carries the capguides 8, said mechanism including in this instance a cam disk 95 fixedto the driving shaft 89 and a jointed rod 97 coacting therewith andextending upward to one arm of a bell crank lever 98, the arms of whichare fixed on opposite ends of a journaled shaft 98. From the other armof lever 98 a link 100 extends to said rod 75 pivoted to the lever arms74.

For operating. the cap feeder mechanism Ill jecting rod 35 having on itslower end a laterally projecting stud 117 fitting in the cam groove 118of said disk, the platform 4 being supported on the upper end of saidrod.

Said cam slot 118 is formed with inclined parts 119 connecting threemainstages 124, 125, and 126 substantially concentric with shaft 89,whereby in operation the platform is first raised from its normallowermost position to an intermediate position at which it bears againstand supports the box bottom while the bottles are filled, and then afterthe filling tubes have been raised and the cap guides swung intoposition over the bottles the platform, lifting the box therewith, israised to its uppermost position, and after the caps have been affixedthe platform is lowered directly to its lowermost position and the boxleft on the rollers 38.

The mechanism, for controlling the cap aflixing plungers 9 comprises apair of like cam disks 130 fixed to the shaft 89, and a pair ofvertically disposed rods 131 disposed on opposite sides of the fillingmechanism. the lower ends of which rods are provided with studs coactingwith the cam slots 133 on said disks, and the upper ends being fixed tothe table 80 which lifts and lowers the cap plungers 9. Said cams 130are formed so as to lower the cappers 9 part way with the fillers 42sufliciently to maintain a liquidtight joint with respect to theclosures 44,

and when tubes 42 are raised the cams 130 drive the plungers 9 downalone.

Guide means for the vertical operating rods 92, 97, 105, 116 and 131 areprovided, cross bars 135 fixed to the frame 1 being shown in thisinstance, said bars being provided with bearings to limit the movementto vertical reciprocation. v

The several said actuating means fixed on the driving shaft 89 are sorelated with respect to their relative angular operating positions onsaidlshaft that the several bottling operations are carried out in adefinite predetermined order substantially as follows: 1. The cam 115raises the platform 4 to its intermediate or filling position to supportthe bottles without raising them. 2. The cams 88 then operate to lowerthe tubes 42 and closure members 44 for filling the bottles andthereupon restore the same. 3.

The guide oscillating cam 95 then swings the frame 69 forward to placethe guides and centering bells over the bottles and in registry withplungers 9. 4. Cam 115 then raises the platform 4 to its uppermost orcapping position. 5. The capping cams 130 then lower the plungers andimmediately restore the same. 6. The cam 95 then restores the guides totheir normal position adjacent to the cap magazines. 7. The cam 115 thenlowers platform'4 to its normal lowermost position to exchange boxes 36.8. The eccentric member 1-03 then moves the cap feeder plates 15 forwardto deposit a cap in each of the guide cylinders 65 ready for the nextoperation. This last mentioned opera tion may take place during the timethat the boxes are being exchanged, the eccentric actuating means beingtimed accordingly. Some of the other operations may be more or lesssimultaneous or overlapping, depending on the flative setting of thecams.

The operation of the bottling machine is as follows: The attendantslides a box filled with empty bottles into the machine, which thereuponruns through its several operations automatically, as above enumerated.As soon as the platform is lowered after the capping operation, the boxcontaining the filled bottles is removed either manually by the operatoror otherwise, and is replaced by another box containing empty bottles.

With this machine it is possible to adjust the time sequence of theseveral operations and the speed of the machine so as to make theoperation continuous and subject to the control of a single operator.

Some of the advantages to be noted for this machine are its compactnessand facility to operate by a single-attendant, the only attentionnormally required being to feed the boxes of empty bottles onto theplatform 4 and remove the same as soon as filled. Two important featuresof improvement overmachines heretofore used are the great reduction ofamplitude in platform movement and the provision for vertical movementof the filling and capping tubes as set forth.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been hereinshown and described. it will be understood that numer ous details of theconstruction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from thespirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

1. A bottling machine. comprising in combination means for holding inplace the bottles to be filled, means for feeding liquid to the bottles,means for feeding caps into placev over the bottles, tubular meansfitting tightly about said liquid feeding means for applying said capsto the bottles. both of said means for feeding liquid and applying thecaps being vertically coaxial and reciprocatable alternately withrespect to each other and separate meansfor operating said filling andcapping means independently of each other.

2. A bottling machine comprising in combination a bottle holder, liquidfeeding means disposed vertically over and coaxial with the bottle,mechanism for lowering and raising said feeding means, verticallydisposed guide means movable laterally to a position coaxial with andimmediately over the bottle alternately with respect to the movement ofsaid liquid feeding means, means for supplying caps to said guide meanswhen the latter is retracted, and plunger means concentric with saidliquid feeding means and movable alternately with respect thereto forapplying the caps brought forward by said guide means successively tothe bottles when they have been filled.

3. A bottling machine comprising in combination a frame and a pluralityof mutually reciprocatable cylindrical members disposed vertically andfitting closely one within another an including an outer member formedand adapted to fit tightly against the mouth of a bottle to be filled,an inner member having an opening at its lower end for dischargingliquid into the bottle, and an intermediate member movable downward toproject beyond the said outer and inner members when the latter aredrawn upward, said intermediate member being formed to fit substantiallywithin the mouth of the bottle for driving a cap into place for closingthe bottle.

4. In a bottling machine, a frame, means for filling the bottles, a capmagazine beside said filling means, and a capping mechanism comprising avertical hollow guide member, means for carrying said guide member toand fro between said magazine and a position concentric with and overthe bottle, means movable horizontally between said magazine andcarrying means for delivering caps successively to the latter when saidcarrying means is retracted, and a cylindrical plunger movable downwardthrough said carrying means when the latter is advanced for applying thecap carried thereby to the bottle, said plunger being concentric withsaid filling means.

5. In a bottling machine, a combined filler and cap aflixer comprising aplurality of coplunger respectively, said means having a common drivingmember and said means having a predetermined relative sequence for eachcomplete bottling operation.

6. In a bottling machine in combination a distributing bulkhead, aplurality of telescopic sectional v filling tubes connected to theunderside thereof, a platform for bottles beneath said tubes, .means forlowering and raising the lower sections of said tubes, means for raisingand lowering said plat form, means for feeding caps to a position overthe bottles, and means operatable downwardly for applying the caps tothe bottles.

7. A bottling machine, comprising in combination means for holding inlace the bottles to be filled, means for-fee ing liquid to the bottles,cap feeding means comprising a cylindrical cap guide proper, a bottlecentering bell mounted telescopically thereon and yielding means 'forurging said bell downward, and means for applying said caps to thebottles, both of said means for feeding liquid and applying the capsbeing vertically coaxial.

8. A bottling machine, comprising in combination'means for holding inplace the bottles to be filled, means for feeding liquid to the bottles,cap feeding means comprising a cap guide cylinder in combination with abottle centering bell concentric therewith and fitting telescopicallythereon, each having an outward flange at its upper end respectively,and supporting means bearing normally against the under side of theflange of the bell member, and means for applying said caps to thebottles, both of said means for feeding liquid and applying the capsbeing vertically coaxial. r

Signed at Chicago this 28th day of J anuary 1915.

GUS'IAF ALFRED HENDRICKSON. MARTIN HENDRIGKSON. Witnesses:

FRED M. DAVIS, WILLIAM E. HANN.

